Over a career in film and TV that lasted nearly 50 years, Joseph Sargent embodied the term “journeyman director”. However, he did create one film largely viewed as a classic: 1974’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

Four men who operate under color-based aliases hijack a New York City subway train. Led by Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw), they demand a $1 million ransom that must come within an hour or they will begin to shoot hostages.

Transit cop Lt. Zach Garber (Walter Matthau) becomes the primary conduit in negotiations with Mr. Blue. This leads to a battle of wits as Lt. Garber attempts to subvert catastrophe.

Going into this screening of Pelham, my only experience with the property came from the movie’s 2009 remake. With Tony Scott as director, it leaned glossy and meat-headed but it still managed moderate – if spotty – entertainment value.

No one will ever use the word “glossy” to describe the 1974 Pelham. With the era’s seedy New York City as an active character, it comes with all the griminess and cynicism one would expect.

Which benefits the movie. I don’t really get the nostalgia some possess for a fiscally bankrupt NYC packed with crime and ugliness, but Pelham nonetheless represents that period well.

The movie captures that particular situation in a vivid manner, and it also comes with the kind of matter-of-fact storytelling that we saw much more often in the 1970s than in any other decade. Sargent resists the urge to give the film showy flourishes or various techniques that would “violate” the NYC vibe.

Pelham evolves at a gradual and deliberate pace that suits it. For what we ostensibly see as an action movie, it lacks lots of thrills, but it builds tension well and pulls us into the narrative.

The characters match the NYC tone, as they tend to see semi-abrasive. Of course, we like some more than others, but you won’t find anyone warm ‘n’ cuddly here.

An excellent cast helps. Only in the 1970s could the rumpled and middle-aged Matthau play the lead in a thriller like this, and he seems perfect for the role as the grumpy but smart and dogged Garber.

All the others excel as well, and Shaw becomes a particular standout. Honestly, Shaw almost always elevated the films in which he appeared, and he enjoyed a pretty terrific run in this period.

Shaw prefaced Pelham with the 1973’s Oscar-winning The Sting and for an encore, he starred in 1975’s legendary Jaws. Add to that plenty of other strong films and it becomes easy to see Shaw as a significant reason why those movies worked as well as they did.

Toss in some understated humor and one of the all-time great closing shots in movie history and I find little about which to complain here. Pelham continues to delight more than 50 years after its creation.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The film came with a mostly solid presentation.

Overall sharpness worked fine. Some softness popped up at times but the majority of the movie seemed accurate.

The image lacked jaggies or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain felt natural and the flick lacked print flaws.

As expected for a gritty tale like this, the palette leaned toward a low-key mix of light amber and teal. I couldn’t help but wonder if the colors got a mild “modern-day update” to reflect current preferences but I thought the tones remained restrained enough to seem acceptable.

Blacks looked deep and dense, while low-light shots became smooth and concise. The scan mainly fared well.

In the category of “why bother?”, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack lacked much to make it expand past its monaural origins. Honestly, I felt hard-pressed to locate anything that obviously broadened the soundscape.

Maybe the score spread a bit to the front sides, but if so, these moments remained limited. Effects never demonstrated obvious movement or localization, and I noticed no material from the back channels.

At least audio quality held up fine over the last five-plus decades, as speech seemed concise and without edginess. Music brought fairly appealing range, albeit with limitations typical of movie sound from 1974.

Effects also failed to boast real breadth but they seemed reasonably accurate and without prominent distortion. While the 5.1 remix remained pointless, at least the track sounded fine.

The disc also came with the film’s original DTS-HD MA monaural mix. It boasted sonics similar to what I heard from the 5.1 version.

Given the profound lack of ambition that came with the 5.1 presentation, I couldn’t identify any real reason to opt for the latter. The mono track stayed true to the audio’s origins and became my preference.

As we move to extras, we find two separate audio commentaries, the first of which comes from film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific look at the source novel’s adaptation and story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, details about NYC of the era and the subway, photography, and connected domains.

Though Thompson chimes in on occasion, Mitchell firmly takes the lead here. I won’t complain, as he delivers tons of information about the film.

Mitchell digs into the NTC of the 1970s as well as production elements with gusto, and Thompson tosses out a few nuggets, though this really does remain Mitchell’s baby. The end result proves lively and informative.

For the second commentary, we hear from actor/filmmaker Pat Healy and film programmer/historian Jim Healy. The brothers chat together for their running, screen-specific discussion of the original book and its transition to the screen, story/characters, cast and crew, genre domains, some production notes and their thoughts on the film.

At the start, the Healy brothers describe this as a “fan commentary”. That prompted me to fear it’d offer little more than unrelenting praise.

Happily, the Healy boys make this much more of a traditional film historian chat. Some of this repeats what we got in the prior track, but the Healys add more than enough new material to ensure we get an enjoyable chat here.

A few featurettes follow, and The Making of Pelham One Two Three goes for six minutes, eight seconds. A vintage piece from 1974, it focuses on NYC transit cop Carmine Buresta.

The officer narrates footage from the production and relates his experiences during the shoot. While promotional in nature, this unusual focus makes it worthwhile.

12 Minutes with Mr. Grey fills 12 minutes, two seconds. Actor Hector Elizondo becomes the focus here.

Elizondo discusses how he got his role in Pelham as well as shooting in New York, his character and performance, and other memories of the shoot. The actor offers an enjoyable chat.

Next comes Cutting on Action. This one fills nine minutes, nine seconds and comes with information from editor Gerald B. Greenberg.

As expected, “Action” looks at working with director Joseph Sargent as well as his efforts on the film. Greenberg covers some of the related challenges well.

The Sound of the City lasts nine minutes, seven seconds. Composer David Shire appears here.

Shire talks about his score for Pelham. “Sound” turns into another worthwhile reel.

Via Trailers from Hell, we get a two-minute, 40-second clip with screenwriter Josh Olson. He comments as he watches the trailer for Entity. Olson offers a few minor thoughts, but the segment’s too short to mean much.

The disc gives us trailers for Pelham as well as Charley Varrick, The Laughing Policeman, Force 10 From Navarone, White Lightning, The Train, Breakheart Pass and Runaway Train. We also find a Pelham TV spot and two Radio Spots.

Finally, we find an Image and Poster Gallery with 38 elements that mix ads and shots from the set. It turns into a decent compilation.

A bright thriller, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three holds up after more than 50 years. With a tight plot, a good cast and a tone that reflects the NYC of its era in the best way, it becomes a winner. The Blu-ray comes with pretty good picture as well as decent audio and a selection of supplements. Pelham exists as a gem of its genre.